DetectingWales.com

What's worse than a never present Farmer...................His always present obnoxious Wife.

I phoned and visited the Farm early spring and was told by No.1 Son they didn't really like detectorists because they put a lot of work into their fields but come back in the Autumn as there were some fields being ploughed and re-seeded. Plus he didn't see me as much of a threat  ::)
Saturday I noticed the fields I really wanted to get into had been harvested and were standing waiting to be detected. Now these fields are about as close to  a Castle as you can get. Storm and power cut that night so I phoned Sunday and got HER again and got the same response, I'll have to have a word with me Husband and get back to you in a few days !!!!! >:(
Now I have to give her 'a few days' before I go looking for the never present Farmer Hubby or she'll scuttle the boat before it sails.  I feel SOOOOOOO  frustrated.

Val 

Can just imagine your frustation Val  :( Probably best to just drop by and see if you can catch the man himself. Good luck x

My feeling Val is that they dont want detectorists on the land and she is trying to save your feelings..I might be wrong and i hope iam ...But there is plenty more farmland out there ,with more easy going landowners ..Good luck Rob  :)

never phone, go in person, thought you would know that by now,Val.

Read " The female of the species " by Kipling, it should explain it all. Sorry to be sexist but I couldn't resist it Val.

just go for it Val. Make that call and see what transpires, that way you will know for sure what the position is! ...

Yes,  I know, I know. But you see, Ah well.  These could be very special fields being so close to the Castle and the river. One field even had it's own docking point.
I think you're right in your assumptions Rob. It's just so annoying that I've waited since March. If I'd known she was going to answer I would have called in. I might still do that anyway. Praps she'll change her mind if she sees me.   (no rude answers to that idea please) It would just be sooooo nice to get onto some land with real promise.

Val

She's just like the receptionist at the Docs.  Vary hard to convince that you need to see the Doc. ;D

Val

Play the waiting game Val ,i have got on to a good site after 30yrs of trying ...The grandson is more open to the hobby of metal detecting and has taken over the reins of the farm.......We have a celtic term for some really awkward landowners.......Crooked as Sin we say and it does not mean criminal........ 8)

Funny you should say that Rob. When I called into the farm in the Spring I saw one of the Sons and he seemed more open to detecting. It was him who suggested I called back in the Autumn. They plough the pasture fields on a cycle of 4 years so each year there's somewhere I could go. One thing's for sure I can't wait 30 years, I'm 68 now. :o ;D

I popped in this morning but there was no sign of anything with 2 legs. What's so annoying is where the fields are. They're a  long way from the farm and not overlooked. It would be possible to go in 2 of them and no one would be any the wiser. I know I wouldn't enjoy it though. Couldn't stand the stress of looking over my shoulder all the time.

Val

Just a thought Val. Would it not be easier to get on the farm next door. If so, at some stage you could call back to the Castle Farm with some nice bits that you are prepared to sacrifice. You could say that you are sorry, but you had been in one of their fields by mistake as you thought it belonged to the other farmer. Then offer them the bits you are sacrificing. I have never done this before but know of detectorists who have done so, and it has worked.

If you were to try this ruse Val make sure you say to the other farmer "is so and so field yours" When he says no then say you have been in the wrong field and will need to see the farmer. That way it will not come as a surprise to him if it gets back. You may also have to bide your time because you still have to get past the wife. If you know what the farmer looks like you will be best to get at him when there is work being done on the farm and in the fields.

Good luck Val. You deserve to get this farm.

Just a thought if any farmers use this site and read this post it makes us all look a bit shady. :-[

Hey Hey John,  only Shades of Grey in my house. ;D ;D ;D ;D ::) ::)

Cardiffian, I went to the owner of the fields next door first. She said no as well. I don't care, something will turn up one of these days.


Val

Packed lunch and a pair of binoculars.
Whe you see (male) movement, close in.
 ;)

Might be a good plan Mike if I didn't have to drive 12 miles first.

Funny you should say that though because that's what I did from my kitchen when I said I'd been cow watching. Made sure they'd been gone for a few days and then struck. I wished I hadn't bothered. I could have found more in my field. Ah well, you don't know till you try, do you. If any one ever wants a field with nothing but iron in it, give me a shout. I seem to have an uncanny knack of finding them.

Val

I would save getting worked up about a site you may not be able to get on and spend the time doing a little research 1st,, is it floodplain , you've already mentioned docking station and river ,,it its floodplain then you know straight away finds are going to be thin on the ground and the ground may not be worth bothering about? ,, I think most of us have come across a castle,fort,settlement etc site and for whatever reason it seems like paul daniels has done a majic act on the land and all the finds have disappeared. ;)

Was on a floodplain below a castle yesterday, 'ziltch'... "Such a fab looking location as well". You just can't tell.
Either its been done to death or, because the water levels in those days were higher, nobody walked or worked the land.

I was interested to read about fields on floodplains, over recent years I have managed to get on farms by the direct approach, face to face, and two of them had large fields bordering the River Avon and I mean large!
In the one case the farmer said that he was going to plough for the first time in nearly fifty years so after rolling it like a billiard table I thought my luck was in, well you can guess what I am going to say, it was completely devoid of signals except large iron. The other farm field was almost the same except that I gave it  another go two months ago and at the furthest point from the river next to the field on higher ground I found what the museum described as a possible Ist century bracelet fragment similar in style to a  Roman Ausicca brooch. So maybe there is hope for some parts of these fields. !!!  It actually looks like a pipe clamp.

                                                         Pat.

I think with floodplains you have to look at how much local traffic there may have been , more traffic =more finds here is my ausicca broach find from a floodplain earlier this year.

Well I'm certainly NOT getting my knickers in a twist over getting a No. Just very disappointing as the fields are potentially good.  As you can see from pici. I've marked them X and Y denoting the two owners. Only 2 of the X fields can flood and none of the Y's.
I have been told some of them have been detected over the years so I s'pose that narrows down the finds but given the position of the Castle and the fact that most of Y's fields are higher I assumed they would have been suited for opposing Armies to camp. The Castle has been under siege and involved in the Civil War.
There are plenty of other fields to have a few pleasant hours in and if I can talk myself into going a bit further and tackling one of my other Farmer contacts I could probably get onto some fields close to where Time Team did a dig a couple of years ago. I heard on the grape-vine that he and his Brother have bought yet another farm close by.
Enjoy the pici. and dream on.
Val

hi val I didn't mean to hijack your thread , just thought I would throw some  alternative light on the subject , I know how hard it is to get land and anything we get is a priviledge ,so I wish you well in getting the land and the finds appear for you , as to the map I can see no x or y  but that central block of fields must surely be a good area close to river , high ground and any obvious route from a to b must surely lie across this patch ,, I wish you well.

nice cricket pitch in that pic Val.   ;D ;D i played there a long long time ago, scored 3!

BBBBBBB   Computor. You'd think I could find my way round it by now.  Do you have any idea how long I spent faffing around with that pici.  I downed the pixles I cropped it I remembered to take out roads and places on Google and the......................picked up the wrong one to post. ::) ::)

I'm not really bothered though. I know the feelings of the owners so if anyone else wants to try, best of luck.

Y farm, Mother says Father says he'd rather not start that sort of thing as it will encourage others and they're too busy. Huh !!

Val

He who knows everything has just explained what I did wrong (Who me ?)

For anyone who's interested, I'll try again.

Val

O.K. I give up.  It don't work.  Sorry to take up the space, I'll go back to sleep now.

Read your Tagline ;)  ;D

Da Monkey yes your right   spit spit spit spit   ;D

turn up on your horse and find the guy to speak to.play the sympathy card and tell them you cant get any land ;)

Poor old bugger is nearly ready to be poor old burgers. He wouldn't make it that far. Anyway it's a well known fact that most Farmers hate horses. Come to think about it I don't think I'd make it that far now. :o ::)

Lost cause Mike. The fields, and me. Just another one for experience. Onwards and Upwards eh.

Val

come to tenby with me an marky troutmaster when time is right ,balls to trashy fields ,plenty old gold poppin up soon val

Might just do that  Mike, next time tides are right.  You can tell me what I'm doing wrong ;)

Val

you never do nothing wrong val its all about the timing ,mark troutmaster will tell u the same..we are on beaches all the time,now and again the sand is off and bingo.
 i spend a fortune travellin to beaches the gold finds dont cover the fuel i use but knowledge is power and im learning every time out love ;)
one day when i hit the mother load weehee payoff